[7] {A}, {B}, or {C}?

--- Chapter 7 ---

After a few minutes of silence that could have been described as suffocating, our dear protagonist finally spoke.

"My dream... I'd say I don't have one."

Senku, who was intensively listening to Eiji speak, suddenly stopped drumming on the table whilst his eyes dimmed in slight disappointment.

'I guess I expected too much...'

Eiji - who was still drowned in the middle of putting things into words - carried on with his answer, causing Senku to snap out of his thoughts.

"Although, instead of dreams, I have many... goals."

Senku's eyes, that were previously despondent, lit up slightly at those words. His thoughts began to focus as he slowly realised the underlying meaning behind them.

Meanwhile, Eiji continued with his thought process, trying to give Senku an answer that will satisfy him, or should I say, himself.

"I, was an ordinary boy that didn't dream big. I would sit on my bed, curtains closed, while watching other people live their life, unconsciously thinking 'This is who I want to be or become'. I've had many dreams, that are ever-changing. Each dream, was bigger than the last, but then a thought eventually reached me. 'What's the point of dreaming, when I'm not striving to achieve it?'

Eiji's hands unintentionally clenched as he spoke out as if he was in a daze. His eyes became slightly blurred and unfocused while Senku unintentionally began to shift his hands.

"That's when I thought, 'Hey. Instead of dreaming big, I should have a goal, or goals, that I should do my best to achieve.' Those lingering thoughts that once were 'this is who I want to become' changed to 'this is what I will become.' I've created a purpose for myself, and I will do my best to achieve it."

Senku began to droop slightly as he ran his hand through his unkempt hair. A big grin was starting to show itself on hus face, the depth of his eyes revealed utter excitement as he thought about his 'dream'.

"And so I decided. I've set a small goal for myself, and each time I achieved it I will strive for something further. Something more grand. The first of those stepping stones, is to be a big streamer. When I've achieved that, then I'll become a musician. After that, well, I'll sure do my damned hardest to figure out what my next goal is, but I know for a fact that it won't be an easy one."

A wide smirk manifested itself on Eiji's lips as he released his pent-out thoughts, on this unexpexted question. Although, it took quite long to come up with am answer, Eiji felt like a boulder has been lifted from his shoulder. He finally figured out what he wanted to do.

On the other hand, Senku couldn't help but release a cackle after realising that the boy in front of him, Eiji Hagiwara, was something more than meets the eye.

'Well, well, I guess that old man was right. I've found someone that will make my life much more interesting.'

Senku's unexpected cackle had unknowingly stiffened Eiji up as he turned to look at what was so funny.

Senku caught his expression from his blurred eyes that were filled to the brim with tears due to laughter, before using his right hand to wipe them off.

"Sorry, I just thought about something that made me laugh quite a lot. Well, that was quite an interesting perspective wasn't it?"

After finishing his wheezing, Senku gave Eiji a cheeky smile before pushing his hand out for what seemed to be a handshake.

"The name's Senku Ishigami. Hoping to see you in the new semester, after all it would be quite a shame to be the only dude in that school."

Eiji raised his eyebrows in slight shock due to this unexpected, but pleasant, outcome and have a smile of his own.

"Eiji Hagiwara, hope we become good friends, Ishigami-san-"

"Urgh, drop the formalities, I absolutely despise them. Gives me shivers to hear those formal tones, the bad ones."

Eiji scratched the back of his neck lightly before breaking into a light chuckle. He then looked at Senku - who began averting his eyes outside - before replying to him.

"Well, then you can call me Eiji, Senku."

The green-haired boy glanced at Eiji with the corner of his eyes, before moving his lips to reply.

"I-"

Ring!

The chime of the incessantly jarring ringtone resounded from Senku's pocket, cutting him off.

Eiji turned to look at the phone, which seemed way more advanced than the current models available, curiously while the other boy picked out the phone looked at the name with slight irritation.

Senku released a deep sigh, filled with annoyance from the unexpected caller, before answering the call.

"Well, it seems like I gotta go. Catch you later then, Eiji."

The boy had then turned his head to face Eiji with an apologetic smile before breaking off to a run with the phone glued next to his ear. All Eiji could hear from the dissapearing back of Senku was a series of insults and shouts that reached all the way here.

A chuckle, once again escaped his lips as he heard the banter. However, that had unexpectedly stopped when he heard the peal of a bell reverberate across the solitary cafè. That had become not so solitary with the accompaniment of a series of giggles and whispers.

"Yep, now that school's finished we can finally get some rest, right Sayuki?"

A group of 3 girls has entered the cafè. Two blondes, and a brunette that he could recognise anywhere. Sayuki Tokihara.

The said girl turned to glance away from her friend and met her hazel eyes with Eiji's, causing both of them to freeze.

The other two girls, who had seen their friend stop out of nowhere, turned to look at Eiji who had a slight smile on his lips before laughing.

However, all of a sudden those laughs halted.

No, in fact, the whole world stopped as if time was stuck in place. Except, the young boy who looked at everything with confusion.

[Ding! Full capabilities of [Dating System] has been unlocked!]

[Scenario 1 has started!

[At specific times, usually in important key moments on forming a relationship, the User will be offered three choices of Dialogue Options that they can choose from. Choosing any of the options can have a variety of effects, varying from bad, alright, good. The choices made during these moments can affect your overall bond with the person you are meeting with or speaking to. Remember to choose your options wisely, after all, every choice has its own consequence!]

Eiji looked at the onslaught of holographic panels on slight awe and interest.

'Ayo, this thing can freeze time? Ain't that like a really bad thing in the wrong hands...'

The young boy, who suddenly looked at the system in a different light and twitching lips, snapped out of his reverie with the appearance of three options and a clocking timer that began at [100].

A - [Well, well, well. We meet again, Sayuki Tokihara! Ever since I've laid my eyes on you, I couldn't get you out of my thoughts. Every second, minute, hour, your entrancing figure makes me want to pray for a chance of dating such, pulchutrudinous, woman! Please go out with me!]

B - [Hmm? Who the fuck are you and why are you looking at me like that, mongrel. Get your filthy eyes away from my body before I pluck them out. This is your one, and only chance.]

C - [Ah, hello! We meet again, erm...]

'Huh?'

Eiji stared at the, mostly, extreme options in front of him with raised eyebrows at the aggressiveness.

He knew for a fact, that he would shove a banana down his throat than choosing Option A. That ass-licking tone that would come from a third-rate young master in a wuxia world made him want to vomit just at the thought of acting like that.

With Option A crossed out, that leaves B and C. Although, B looks quite, no very, rude - Sayuki may like that due to her... nature of being a masochistic pervert. That gives a 50/50 percent chance, which he was not willing to risk.

Eiji, finally then looked at the final option before him with mixed feelings. Although, the majority would shout him that this would be the most obvious choice, he felt quite unsure. Especially since the other two were quite long compared to this one, making him feel as if it was a trap question.

'Man, those maths questions really gave me PTSD.'

Eiji looked at all three options, and thought of picking between B and C before realising that the timer had began counting down from [10].

The young man then decided to well, fuck it, and pressed C, causing the world that was once frozen in eternity, to flow as if it had never happened.

Eiji looked around in confusion, wondering if he was just hallucinating, for a few seconds before freezing up.

His body suddenly moved on its own, his facial muscle twitching as he gave a charming smile. His hands scratched the back of his neck as he stared deeply into the brunettes eyes, who began to widen at his unexpected advance.

'Bro..?'

Eiji felt perplexed as his lips moved to spout some words, that he would never, ever, say to someone.

"Ah, hello! We meet again, erm..."

Eiji made his face show confusion and put his hands in his pocket as he waited for the woman, who was in shock, to reply.

Sayuki snapped out of her trance and gave an embarrassed smile before answering Eiji.

"Ah! My name is Sayuki Tokihara, nice to meet you..."

The boy gave the hazel-eyed beauty a cheeky grin before grabbing the back of her hand and gave it a light peck, causing the girls next to her to let out laughter and squeals.

'Pretty privilege.' Eiji thought mentally before looking at the girl who started to blush at the unexpected attack.

"My name's Eiji Hagiwara. Nice to meet you, Tokihara-san."

---

Sorry for the late update, was really busy helping out the family due to an unexpected problem coming up. I'll try to make it up to you guys by giving a bonus chapter next week.

Also, all errors pointed out will be appreciated as I will probably miss out some things after double-checking everything somehow smh.